Progressive Christianity a Microbrewed Faith

We haven't talked about Progressive Christianity for some time and it been running through my mind this Thursday morning . Progressive Christianity doesn’t belong to a denomination, and it doesn’t have a culture that it used always and everywhere. Progressive Christianity has sprung up among every mainline denomination and have started making inroads into evangelical churches. Some Progressive Christians are charismatic, and others follow Quaker practices, and some write new songs while others retain the high liturgies of the past. Progressive Christianity has no creed or hymnal, and it certainly has no pope or moderator, but Progressive Christianity has a style and an ethos—a wildness and an openness that has historically signaled the onset of a lasting movement.

Progressive Christianity seems to me to be akin to micro-brews and less like Bud Light; those beers that are pumped out in batch after batch in industrial quantities at a remarkable consistency. Instead, Progressive Christianity is unpredictable, fiercely local and particular, and possessed of a energy that isn’t found in mass-market products.  Instead, Progressive Christianity seems to be fermenting with wild yeast, in open containers that get cross-seeded with other batches in other places. It seems to be a matter of different makeup, with different values and processes and even different stories. This movement seems to be organic and vital in a way that denominational bodies haven’t been, and it seems to be wild in a way that bodes well for its survival.

Some Progressive Christian communities meet in houses, and others nest in the buildings of various denominations. Some have a pastor, and others do not. Some Progressive Christians fall into the category of emerging/emergent, and others belong to traditional denominations, and some are both at the same time. Some live by ancient practices, and others innovate their liturgies and music. No one thing characterizes them all–not even theology.

The defining characteristic seems to be a discontent with the status quo, and a recognition that life is draining out of the old institutions with every passing generation. Progressive Christianity is propelled forward by the notion found in its name–progress–but also by a impatience that is born of seeking Truth, whatever that may take us.